South African platinum giant sees profit skyrocket 3,000%

Northam Platinum has had a stellar start to its 2026 financial year, as the mining giant benefited from all-time high platinum prices during the ongoing commodity rally.

On Friday, 27 February, Northam released its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2025, marking the first half of its 2026 financial year.

The miner recorded a 60% increase in revenue to R23.3 billion, while its cost of sales rose by 29.43% to R17.41 billion.

Northam’s operating profit skyrocketed by 439.2% to R5.8 billion, as its operating profit margin rose to 25.1%, up from 7.5% in the first half of its 2025 financial year.

The company’s profit for the period reached R7.9 billion, up over 3,000% from the comparable half-year.

The miner reported that its basic earnings per share also grew by over 3,000% to 2,006 cents per share.

These strong results were largely due to record-high PGM prices over the past year, as a commodity rally benefited precious metals prices.

Northam recorded an average platinum price of $2,250 per ounce for the six-month period, more than double the $945/oz seen in the first half of its 2025 financial year.

“Metal price appreciation is offering relief to the entire PGM sector and is now at levels that will support ongoing mining from existing operations across the industry,” CEO Paul Dunne said.

“Despite some recent speculative froth, due to geopolitical turmoil, our view remains that the underlying market factors driving pricing are fundamental.”

However, he warned that ageing shafts and a paucity of investment over the past decade or more mean that supply erosion will continue.

Regardless, he added that the existing demand for these special metals remains, and new demand drivers are emerging.

Dunne noted that tightening supply and Northam’s absolute growth in both PGM and chrome production are resulting in a corresponding increase in the miner’s market share and, thus, its importance in the sector.

“We deliberately funded our growth strategy via debt financing and internal cash flows,” he explained.

This, he said, has allowed the mining giant to significantly grow its production and market share, without shareholder dilution.

Northam recorded capital expenditure of R2.8 billion for the six-month period, up from R2.4 billion in the comparable half-year.

On the back of these strong results, Northam declared a record interim dividend of R7 per share.